Tome Thursday: Let It Be Me

 

Hello everyone!

 

I come bearing the gift of another book review, and I chose something a little different for this week's actually.

 

I don't usually just pick something up to read, it's either off a list I've been cultivating for years or it's a recommendation/suggestion, but truth be told I was incredibly bored this past weekend and ended up picking something at random.

 

I know. Shocking!

 

Turns out though that it's pretty good, all things considered.

 

I will admit that I have more misses than hits when randomly choosing the things I'm reading, but that aside there's something about the mystery of picking something you haven't ever touched before, so that's something I suppose.

 

And I don't think I've ever read anything from this author before, either, which is an added bonus.

 

So without further ado, it's romance time: Let It Be Me is next.

 

As this is a standalone on this blog I sadly don't have any other books to link to, however, I'm sure I'll eventually find more since I did enjoy the author's writing style!

 

Let It Be Me tells the story of Emerson and Caleb, two people brought together by the worst tragedy possible.

 

Emerson is a voice actress who voices books (specifically, romance books, mostly done by her best friend) and at the start of the story she learns her boyfriend of so many years is cheating on her, but she also gets a devastating call: her best friend was in a car accident, and unfortunately didn't make it.

 

This makes her fourteen-year-old daughter an orphan, as the father was never in the picture, and her maternal grandparents aren't exactly the best choice for her.

 

The one organizing all this and letting Emerson know what's what is Caleb, a young firefighter who's there to witness the crash that night and who pulls Fiona out of the wrecked car. He also sort of makes it his mission to make sure the girls are getting through their grief okay.

 

Which is how these three form a sort of family unit, not that Emerson would call it that; Caleb moves into the house next door to them, initially just to help them get a kickstart after the rough beginning, but then sort of just falling into a pattern.

 

And he falls in love with Emerson in the process.

 

Now, he doesn't make any move or show any of his feelings until four years later, however, instead being the best friend he can possibly be and just helping wherever he can, including but not limited to mediating arguments and getting Emerson into running so that her nerves and anxiety have somewhere to go.

But once Fiona moves out to attend college, he helps her realize her wish for Emerson, which is to adopt a dog, and they do, though said dog is more cat than dog if anyone asks me based on all the high spots it manages to get itself onto, but more importantly, Caleb makes a move.

He knows Emerson is going to need some time to get her head around it, because not only will this be new, but he's also eight years younger than she is, twenty-eight to her thirty-six, not that HE has any issues with it. And in fact when the topic pops up (which is a lot), he points out that nobody's going to bat an eye, because what if the ages were reversed, and he were the one older? Neither one of them would care.

So he begins his slow, artful seduction which, honestly I wouldn't even call seduction so much as it is a bit of a redefinition of their relationship. Caleb knows Emerson so well, and she knows him, from the four years they spent together bringing Fiona up, that he can tick all her boxes and then some, and she his.

Unfortunately the physical part of the book just isn't happening though, not because they wouldn't want to, but because there's always some disaster after another! I think it takes them a couple of tries, and Caleb explaining to Emerson he doesn't need perfect, he just needs the daily grind with her and he'll be happy.

Emerson, on the other hand, is waffling because she's nervous. Who even if she outside of being a mother anymore? She used to have dreams she put on hold for Fiona, but what if they're now within reach? A trip to Caleb's foster family reunion sort of opens her eyes to the fact that, hey, she CAN have both, and it won't be the end of the world.

Of course she also backs herself into a corner when she doesn't tell Fiona right away, so Fiona kind of walks in on her and Caleb, then there's a fight (naturally, but not because of what you'd think), and the girl leaves. This then translates into an accident she gets into, and Emerson kicking Caleb out of their lives because - get this - if she hadn't been distracted with him, Fiona wouldn't have had her accident, and she needs to 100% focus on the girl.

Listen, Fiona is the first to call bull on this, aptly pointing out that she has no idea why any of the adults in her life think she won't be able to handle them having relationships with other people beside her. She also explains that her mom was seeing someone at the time of her death, and why they were on the road that night, but mostly she's like: Emerson, for real, can you get your head out of your butt and stop thinking for me please?

This combines with something else: a call from Caleb's brother who tells her that Caleb was involved in an accident at work, which puts him in a coma for about two days or so, and frightens Emerson half to death too. 

He does wake up, however, and when he's healed up, she takes him to the fire station where she reveals she's planned their wedding, and they get married on the spot - and oh, they'll be parents, too! Supposedly she had an IUD, but it apparently either got expelled or moved, and well, Bob's your uncle.

This book is the first in a series, so I may pick up number two once I have some more time.  Overall, I really enjoyed it, because I felt like it dealt with situations in a pretty good manner, for the most part (aka, characters do tend to talk things through ... right until the ending there).

Caleb was a sweetheart with the patience of a saint. Emerson was also lovely although a bit too hung up on how she was "too old" or something, at only thirty-six.

But I loved it the most when her goddaughter is the one to set her straight.

PREACH GIRL, PREACH!

I felt like Emerson hit the brakes there too hard for no apparent reason, though maybe that was the point, since there was no logic involved. I'm just glad that her friend and her goddaughter managed to shake some sense into her. It's the only complete 180 in the entire book that throws everything out of its smooth alignment for me, really.

All in all, though, a good read!

xx

*image not mine